And Odd Punishment

A Willow Springs, Ill., woman was charged with endangering the life of a child after she left her 6-year-old son alone at the Chicago Ridge Mall to “teach him a lesson,” police told the Chicago Tribune. The woman was arrested in late December after security guards spent almost an hour searching the mall for her, officials said. After the boy was found wandering around the food court alone, he gave police information to track down his mother, authorities said. According to the police report, when the mother came back to the mall to pick up the child, she was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor of endangering the life and health of a child.